Novices
by j-mercuryuk
Summary: A seris of one shot stories about Akkarin and Lorlen as novices. Part 5: Akkarin does something that could ruin thier friendship.
1. Chapter 1

Unoriginal title, I know, but I couldn't think of anything better. This is my series of one shots in reply to Indria's fanfic. They wouldn't link to each other, just little ficlets of fun and so fore.

Akkarin and Lorlen as novices challenge.

Lorlen sighed heavily. What was taking Akkarin so long? After their last lesson Akkarin had told Lorlen to meet him here, at the spring, as soon as it got dark. He had been waiting for at least an hour now, so what was taking his friend so long? Watching his light globe he contemplated this question. Maybe this was just one of Akkarin's jokes, getting him back for trying to read his diary. However, that would be too strange, even for Akkarin.

Lorlen sighed again. Maybe he should play their board game, just pass the time. Suddenly he heard the noise of someone crashing through the forest. Standing he looked in the direction of the noise, waiting for Akkarin to appear. He didn't have to wait long; Akkarin soon appeared, slightly out of breath, but grinning widely. In his arms he carried his bag.

"You're late. I was wondering if you were going to turn up," Lorlen said.

"Sorry, it took me longer to get 'it' then I thought. Then I ran into Lorna," Akkarin pulled a slight face, "She won't leave me alone, not since last free day."

"What is 'it' exactly?"

The grin soon reappeared on Akkarin's face again. Rearranging the bags in his arms he began to explain, "I was walking to the food hall, after Lord Jerrik had kept me back, when I accidentally over-heard Lord Rothen and the monster talking-"

"Accidentally?"

Akkarin waved an impatient hand, shrugging off his question. "Well, it appears that a distant relative gave the monster a present, but he obviously doesn't know our 'dear' teacher very well, or at all for that matter. He gave him a bottle of wine. He was just going to leave it in a cupboard, letting it become old and neglected. So I decided to do him a favour," and he reached into the bag and pulled something out. A bottle, with dark, red…

"Are you insane!?" Lorlen exclaimed, "You stole wine from Lord Margen!?"

Akkarin's smile remained in place as he shook his head. "Not just any wine, Anuren Dark. My father says it's one of the best wines he's ever had, and one of the most expensive."

"You stole expensive wine from Lord Margen! What will happen when he finds out?"

"You worry too much, he'll never notice because he'll forget about it."

"But what if he doesn't? What if he decides to give it to Lord Rothen as a gift?"

Again Akkarin shock his head, but this time he reached into his bag again. "Don't worry. I thought of that as well," and he pulled out another bottle, "Vinegar. Once we finish we'll replace the wine with vinegar. If he does ever give it to anybody they'll think that the wine has soured because of his neglect. I'll return the bottle tomorrow morning."

This brought an interesting question to Lorlen's mind, "How _did_ you get the wine?" he narrowed his eyes at his friend.

A secretive smile played across Akkarin's face, "Now Lorlen, I can't tell you all of my little secrets."

"How about any?"

"I'm telling you this one," Akkarin pointed out. When this didn't have the desired affect Akkarin sighed and let his face fall into an expression of mock disappointment, "But if you don't want any I suppose I'll have to drink it all by myself. Pity, really, but I suppose if you can't drink fair share…"

Oh, no he didn't. Akkarin may be always outdoing him in every aspect of novice life, but Lorlen still never backed down from a challenge from his friend. "Ha! You wouldn't be able to get half way through the bottle. You'll be lying here till noon tomorrow," Lorlen said, stepping forward till he met his friend.

"I doubt that. More likely that you'll be the one can't drink his fair share." Akkarin retorted.

Lorlen took the bottle and, extending his will, popped the cork out. "We'll just have to see who's right then…"

(&)

Sunlight filtered through the leaves and played across Lorlen's face. He opened his eyes, but immediately shut them tightly. The light made his head hurt, even more then it already did. He grimaced as the smell of alcohol and vomit reached his nose, making the nausea rise inside of him. He felt awful. No, he corrected himself, feeling awful would be good right now. He felt like he was about to die in the most horrible way known to man. Remembering why he felt so ill he cursed himself. Why had he agreed to down the remainder of that second bottle? He wasn't sure where Akkarin had produced the second bottle from, but sure enough, as soon as the first one was finished, Akkarin had pulled a second bottle out of nowhere. He wasn't sure how much was left in the bottle when his best friend had put forward the challenge; everything had seemed so blurry by then, not to mention funny.

Daring to open his eyes he tried to look around. The first thing he saw, were 3 bottles, reminding his stomach that it really, really, hated him at the moment. One of the said bottles was empty and stood upright, while the remaining two lay on their sides, some dark liquid inside, giving off a terrible stench. Groaning Lorlen realised that this was the result of their spectacular failure to pour the vinegar into the empty bottle of Anuren Dark, or what they had assumed was the bottle of Anuren Dark. Looking more closely now, Lorlen wasn't sure that they had got the right bottle. They had given up trying to fill the bottle when Akkarin had completely missed it and had soaked Lorlen's hand instead.

Remembering about his friend he sat up suddenly, regretting it as he did. He clenched his eyes shut, trying to prevent the world from spinning around him. The sound of wrenching reached him, helping him encourage his eyes open. He didn't have to search for long before his eyes fell on Akkarin.

He was crouching by the spring, on his hands and knees, head hanging between his arms. Akkarin's hair hung around his face, screening it from Lorlen's view. Akkarin made a spluttering cough and spat on the ground before dragging his sleeve across his mouth. His dark hair fell away from his face as he looked up. Seeing Lorlen awake he smiled roughly. "You're finally awake, took you long enough."

Lorlen felt smug as he replied. "At least I haven't just been sick."

Akkarin continued to smile back at him, "No, you were sick last night, twice."

Lorlen felt his smugness evaporate and his face warmed. He was about to retort to this when a couple of very unpleasant memories came to mind. Closing his eyes, he tried to breath deeply, hoping against hope that this would make him feel better. "Never again," he muttered, "I'm never touching wine again," he paused as his headache increased in protest, while his stomach continued its war against him. He'd never felt so bad in his life. "I'm never touching it as long as I live."

End.

Not a great fic, but as long as it was fun to read then my task is done.


	2. Chapter 2

Ok, here's my second little one shot. Again it's not an amazing feat of literature, but it should be fun to read.

**Part 2**

Akkarin pushed open the door to his room. He was relieved to finally be free from his essay writing in the library. After all, there was only so much anybody could stand to read about the Sachakan war. Dropping his bag beside the door he heard a shuffling noise and looked up. In front of him stood Lorlen, trying to look innocent, his hands behind his back.

"Hello Akkarin," he said cheerfully.

"Hello Lorlen…what are you doing in my room." It wasn't that he didn't like seeing Lorlen, or that he didn't like Lorlen being in his room, it's just that he wasn't keen on the idea of Lorlen being in his room alone. He liked Lorlen, but he also liked his privacy, and having some secrets. Secrets always seemed to make life that little bit more interesting. It was also a great feeling to know things that no one else did.  
"Waiting for you to get back of course, you have no idea how dull this evening has been for me."

Akkarin closed the door and rested his back against it. He crossed his arms across his chest, watching Lorlen. What's behind your back then?"

"Nothing," Lorlen said, just a little too quickly.

"Then show me."

Lorlen hesitated and then lifted one hand up and showed his empty palm.

"And the other one?" Akkarin prodded.

Lorlen hesitated again, but this time Akkarin thought he sensed the release of magic. Lorlen produced his second empty hand, holding them both up for Akkarin to see. "See; nothing."

Akkarin narrowed his eyes. What had he done with it? Suddenly it clicked. He rushed forward and nudged Lorlen aside. However, he only glimpsed the levitating object before Lorlen grabbed it and dashed out of his reach.

Akkarin looked at the book in Lorlen's hands and his stomach sank. "My diary. You haven't read it have you?"

Lorlen shrugged, keeping an eye on his friend, "Just a little. It was really hard to find."

"It was supposed to be. Give it back," he held out his hand to receive the journal.

"Come Akkarin, just a glance through."

"No. It's private. Now give it to me."

Lorlen smiled broadly, "That just makes me even more curious." When he moved to open the diary Akkarin felt his patience flee and he pounced on his best friend. However, all Akkarin caught was air as Lorlen leapt onto the bed.

Lorlen laughed, "What? Does it say horrible things about me?"

"It will in minute if you don't give it back."

He jumped onto the bed and Lorlen started to back away to the other end, holding the diary high above is head, "Come on Akkarin, I just want to see what you're so secretive about."

"It's none of your business," and he leapt at Lorlen again.

Akkarin reached for the diary. Normally the extra height he had on Lorlen would have meant that he could easily have plucked the diary out of his friend's hands. This advantage was taken when Lorlen grabbed the front of his robes and held him at arms length. His diary was just out of his reach. Akkarin made a noise of frustration and his fingertips brushed against Lorlen's arms. If only he could grab hold of the arm, then he was sure he could wrestle the book out of his friend's grasp. At this rate, though, he wouldn't even manage to get a hold on his friend's robe. Lorlen might even strike lucky and escape into his own room. He felt dread filling him at this thought. It was unlikely that Lorlen would get away from him, on balance he was more skilled then Lorlen, but it was best not to take any risks. If he locked the door and kept it shut with magic then Lorlen would have no way to escape. He would have to give the book back eventually.

Akkarin smiled and extended his will and locked the door. As Akkarin heard the door click, he felt himself falling backwards. He collided with the bedding and looked up to see his increasingly annoying friend land on his desk. Lorlen looked at the door frowning. So Lorlen had taken advantage of his brief distraction, well two could play at that game. Lorlen was paying more attention to the door then is fiend; big mistake.

Akkarin rocked to his feet and leapt at Lorlen. Lorlen yelped in surprise as he felt Akkarin grab onto him. As they collided into the wall Akkarin's grip on Lorlen loosened slightly, and they stumbled a few steps to the edge of the desk. Something happened then that Akkarin hadn't considered; the desk tipped. As the surface began to slide from under them, Akkarin's instinct was to tighten his hold on Lorlen, whose instinct seemed to be to flay his arms widely. To no ones surprise this did the pair little good and they were soon fell, in a rather undignified heap, on the floor. However, they weren't the only things that went crashing.

Akkarin didn't even have time to be thankful that he wasn't hurt, when the unmistakeable noise of glass smashing reached his ears. Akkarin felt a chill run down his spine as he slowly looked up. Realising what had happened he groaned. He had managed to get the diary out of Lorlen's hand, and straight through his window.

"Oops," Lorlen muttered.

The thunder of feet caught his attention. He turned and saw Lorlen wearing the same expression of horror that he knew was on his face. As the doorway was flung open one thing became very clear; they were in A LOT of trouble.

The door slammed into the wall and Lord Ahrind stood in the doorway. His look of shock quickly turned into anger. "What have you done to your room!?"

A heavy silence filled the room and Akkarin opened his mouth, unsure of what he was actually going to say. It suddenly occurred to him that Ahrind had said room, not window. Looking round he could almost feel their doom being sealed. It appeared that Lorlen had not just flayed his arms wildly around, he had created a shield to prevent them from hurting themselves. While this had saved them from being damaged, they same could not be said for the desk. The once solid, whole desk now lay in several smaller pieces, broken by the pressure inflicted by the shield. Around them lay sheets of used and used paper, scattered across the room. Ink was seeping across the floor, and his ink well was smashed. Akkarin wonder fleetingly why he hadn't noticed this rather obviously fact before.

Akkarin shut his mouth without making a sound. Unsure what to do or say he looked to his partner in crime and saw the same thoughts running through his mind;

How in Kryalia were they going to get out of this one?

**End**

There you go everyone. By the way, if you have anything you'd like me to write about any particular exploit of these two them please tell me. I only have two more ideas and that wouldn't be enough to make the chapters in Indria's fanfic. So I need more things to write about.

Thank you again to the lovely Zurina for beta reading.


	3. Chapter 3

**Part 3**

A stifled giggle came from the brunette as she pressed her hand against her mouth, her cheeks slowing turned red. "I could help you," she added shyly.

Akkarin only just held in the sigh of relief and exasperation. Finally!

As punishment for destroying his room, he'd been sentenced to helping the new librarian, Lord Jullen for a month, including free days. It had been extremely dull and tedious. He didn't even have Lorlen to keep him company as he'd been sentenced to helping the healers. What really annoyed him about this, however, was that Lorlen almost seemed to be enjoying his punishment. He couldn't even rant this out in his dairy because, even after a month, he had been unable to find the dairy that had 'flown' through the window. He could always buy another one, but that still meant that he had lost two years in writing. However after a month he had been forced to give up on it.

However today was his last day of punishment, so he was eager to finish the task that Jullen had set him for the day and leave. Akkarin had been overjoyed when Jullen had said that all he had to do was take some book to the appropriate places and then he could finish…that was until he saw how many books there was. This would keep him busy till the evening.

Then, while strolling through the rows of shelves, replacing books, he noticed that he was being watched. A small first year girl with curly brown hair, whom he had half-heartedly noticed watching him before today. A first it irritated him, not only did he have to spend a free day in the library working, but he had to do it being watching by some silly first year. Suddenly a stroke of genius hit him, changing his opinion of the girl completely. Two people would get a task done far quicker then one person.

So he had drawn closer to the girl. Replacing the books along the row, mostly in the wrong place, till he reached her and then engaged her in conversation, acting clueless of where to put the remaining books. He had flirted with her, and acted dismayed and upset about staying in on a free day, dropping subtle hints as he went. Unfortunately for him Lorna seemed to be the living breathing proof that power and intelligence didn't necessarily go hand-in-hand. She was obviously far too powerful for her parents to stop her coming to the Guild, but he wondered if she was intelligent enough to actually succeed here. It had taken him thirty minutes for her to volunteer; he had nearly been ready to give up.

"Oh, I couldn't let you do that for me," he said, trying not to be too obvious.

"Oh no, It would be a pleasure, I'd love to help you," and her cheeks flushed even more.

After what he considered a convincing pause he replied, "Well, if you-"

"AKKARIN!"

Akkarin spun round at the sound of his name. In front of him stood Lord Jullen, arms crossed and a frown marring his features. "You're here as punishment, not to flirt with young girls."

"I'm not flirting, My Lord."

"No? Then what are you doing?"

Akkarin was about to put forward a believable explanation when Lorna spoke up, "I'm sorry Lord Jullen. Akkarin asked me if I knew where the rest of his books should go and then we started talking and he said that he was disappointed that he couldn't enjoy such a nice day and so I volunteered to help him."

Akkarin wondered if it would be too obvious if he started banging his head against the shelves. Lord Jullen looked at him and he raised his eyebrows, "You did? How very fortunate for Akkarin," turning from Akkarin he looked at Lorna, "As generous as your offer is, I'm afraid that Akkarin must decline. This punishment is not a group activity. Go and enjoy your free day." Lorna looked back over her shoulder as she walked off, disappearing round the corner, along with the rest of his day. "Akkarin, once you've finished with those books you will come and see me for more work." Jullen walked off, leaving Akkarin alone once again.

Akkarin dropped into a nearby chair and let his forehead fall onto the desk, making a soft thump. Great! Not only had he lost his only chance of getting out here early, but now he was sure to be stuck here till the damn library shut. Nothing could make today worse.

He felt a shy tug at his sleeve and he looked up. There was no one there. He frowned and then he felt another tug at his sleeve. He looked down and saw two large blue eyes looking up at him. A small child with blonde hair framed the eyes, looking particularly shy and nervous. Strange, not even magician's children were allowed in the library unaccompanied. Perhaps he was lost.

"Erm…are you Akkarin?" The child asked quietly.

"Yes?"

"I found this and father said it belonged to you."

Akkarin looked down at the object in the child's hands in disbelief. It was his diary. Relief and gratitude flooded in as he took the object from the boy. Smiling widely he said, "Thank you. Thank you so much. I thought that I'd lost it forever. Thank you."

The little boy grinned and, happy that he had done the right thing, took off. Akkarin watched the boy run straight to Lord Rothen who had watched the scene from nearby.

"I returned it father."

Rothen scooped up his son, "Well done Dorrien; that was very good of you." Turning to address Akkarin, Rothen spoke again, "A word of advice; if you want something to remain a secret, throwing it through a window usually isn't the best way to go about it."

Akkarin stood and bowed, "Yes Lord Rothen, and thank you."

Rothen smiled at him, "All your thanks should go to Dorrien. He found your diary and insisted on returning it himself."

Another wave of gratitude washed over him and he looked back at Dorrien, who happily sat in his father's arms. "Thank you again Dorrien. I wish I could make it up to you."

Dorrien just smiled and rested his head against his father's chest.

"Now Akkarin," Rothen said, in a voice more suited to a teacher, "I think it would be best if you got back to your work before Lord Jullen returns. I doubt you would like to see how much work he can force you to do today."

After a hasty bow Akkarin rushed off again, feeling lighter then he had done all day.

**End**

There you go. I hoped you all enjoyed reading that. Thank you Zurina, as per usual, for beta reading for me. :D


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** Ok, I fell it my duty to give you a **warning**. If you are in any way sensitive to slash, I advice you DON'T read this chapter. This is also in no way related to the other chapters in the serious of one-shots. This is me playing with an idea.

**Part 4**

Lorlen laid on his back, letting the sun warm his body, sunlight dancing across his face, beside him lat Akkarin, a small smile playing across his lips. Lorlen closed his eyes as he as he started to feel sleepy. He let the bubbling of the spring lull him into a doze. It wasn't as if he'd had a busy day, in fact, it'd been the opposite. Some first year novice hadn't been able to gain control properly and had eventually died last night, so all the novices and magicians had been given the day off to mourn. To avoid the awkward and edgy atmosphere in the novice quarters they had escaped to the spring.

It wasn't that he didn't feel sorry for the novice and his family, but, as Akkarin had said, they hadn't known him. They could hardly feel grief for the loss of someone they'd never meet; he didn't even know the family.

He was jerked out of his thoughts when he felt something brush against his lips. Surprised he flung his eyes open. Hovering above his face was Akkarin's. For a moment he didn't know what to think, and then he suddenly pushed Akkarin away. Scrambling to his feet he exclaimed, "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

A strange look hovered over Akkarin's face, but before Lorlen could identify it, it was replaced with a beaming smile. "So you woke up. I thought that might work."

"What are you talking about?"

"I tried to wake you but you wouldn't, so I-"

"Kissed me?" Lorlen recognised the hint of horror creeping into his voice.

Akkarin hesitated; his smile slightly fixed, and then answered, "It worked didn't it?"

"But, you kissed me!" Lorlen repeated, rather dumfounded.

"You've said that already," Akkarin said testily," If you can't handle a joke then I may as well leave!" With that he turned on his heel and fled the spring.

Lorlen stood on his own, his head whirling. He had no idea what to make of what had just happened. It made him uneasy. If the higher magicians found out about this, it could lead to them being expelled from the guild and their powers blocked, or at least Akkarin would. But what if it was just a joke? Akkarin had certainly seemed upset by his reaction, but so would he if Akkarin had taken a joke of his to seriously. However, there was a small nagging doubt that worried him. The way Akkarin had acted had been…..well, he wasn't sure what exactly. He was close to Akkarin, but to think of being that close to Akkarin deeply disturbed him.

Shuddering Lorlen shook his head. No, Akkarin wouldn't be like that, he had never shown such inclinations before now. This must have just been one of Akkarin's strange jokes. Yes, that was it. Akkarin was just messing with him and he had taken it the wrong way. He should just find his friend and forget that this whole business. It was nothing. It meant nothing.

He had to believe that.

**End**

Ok then. Make of that what you will. I do need some more suggestions for chapters through. I only have one more idea left which is a request from someone of 


	5. Chapter 5a

**A/N: **Ok, several of you will notice the similarity between this and Zurina's 'Always in your shadow'; I swear that that is purely coincidental. We just both happen to write about something very similar at the same time. I thought I'd point this out before anyone else made a comment on it.

**Novice 5 (a)**

Lorlen resisted the urge to sigh, leaning against the bookcase he watched the younger novice frown down at her paper. She pushed back a blonde lock, allowing Lorlen to have an unobstructed view of her face. The sunlight streaming across the room seemed to give her skin a glow and made her hair look golden. She was beautiful. The lock of hair fell back as she shook her head and reached for a book on healing. Her blue eyes darted across the page as she read. Beautiful blue eyes that seemed-

"BOO!!!"

Lorlen cried out in surprise and spun around. Akkarin stood grinning at him, apparently pleased that he had nearly given his friend a heart attack. Lorlen took deep breathes, trying to calm his heart, which seemed to be in the process of trying to escape his chest in protest. Seeing his friend looking over his shoulder he turned and followed the gaze. The girl had narrowed her eyes at them, upset at the disturbance, but when they turned to look at her, she blushed and turned back to her book.

"She's pretty," Akkarin muttered, "very pretty in fact, but I doubt she can tell you why transforming lead into gold is impossible in a four thousand word essay." Akkarin made a noise of exasperation, "Why does the monster always think the most boring and tedious assignments to do?"

Lorlen shrugged, not really caring about that at the moment, "Because he hates us."

Turning on his heel Akkarin snorted, "Too right he does!" he walked off down the row continuing his rant, "Either that or he thinks we're just sitting in our rooms just hoping he gives us one of his stupid assignments. Does it really matter _why _we can't turn lead into gold? No! We can't do it, end of story. I swear, just because he's so…" Akkarin's voice faded away, apparently unaware that his friend had not followed him.

Shaking his head Lorlen returned his attention to its original focus. A frown still marred her features, but now she was scrabbling something down her paper. An idea began to shape into a plan as he watched her. Taking a deep breath he forced himself to walk forward. She was too absorbed in her study to notice him, not even when he was standing right behind her, and looking over her shoulder.

"That's wrong," he told her.

Her head jerked up at his voice, her eyes wide I surprise. At least he wasn't the only one to be surprised today. She stared at him for a moment, during which he took full opportunity to examine her eyes….they really were a marvellous colour, and then the frown appeared on her face again. She looked back at her page and said, "Where?"

Pleased that she had asked him for his help, he took a seat beside her and pulled the work over to look at it clearly. Glancing over the sheet he saw what she was doing wrong. He pointed out her mistakes, explaining to her where exactly she had gone wrong. As he spoke he watched her face brighten as understanding dawned on her. When he had finished she pulled the work back over to her and went about correcting the mistakes, every now and then asking for confirmation on some point. She was clever, he realised, his affections growing, she just didn't understand her teacher's explanations. She also seemed more beautiful close up. The longer he sat there the more perfect she seemed.

Eventually she straightened and placed down her pen. Looking back at him she smiled and announced that she had finished. Her smile seemed infectious and he found himself smiling back at her.

"Thank you so much. I've been finding Lady Vinara's lesson's so hard to follow. I try so hard but I just don't understand so much," she sighed heavily, "I was beginning to worry that I wouldn't be able to make it as a healer."

Lorlen brightened at this news, she wanted to be a healer as well; he could hardly believe this. "You want to be a healer…" he grew embarrassed realising that he had no idea what her name was.

She lifted a shoulder into a shrug, "Both my parents are healers, they're hoping so much that I'll follow in their footsteps. It's not that I don't like helping people," she rushed, "It's just that it's so hard, and I find alchemy so much more interesting." She gave him a dazzling smile holding out her hand, "I'm Lenara."

The disappointment at hearing her confession of healing evaporated as he took her hand. The contact made his hand tinkle. Lenara, he mused, such a beautiful name; prefect for her.

"I'm-" he started

"Lorlen, I know," she finished his sentence, a slight blush colouring her cheeks.

"You know my name," he said, feeling a thrill of pride run through him. How and why did she know his name?

"Of course I know your name," her eyes sparkled like twin diamonds, "Your Akkarin's closest friend, everyone knows your names."

Well not quite the answer he would like to have heard, he admitted, but it was better then nothing. "Well, Lenara, I happen to excel at healing, I'm even better then Akkarin."

"Oh my, you must be good then," he wasn't sure if he was teasing him or not.

"Then perhaps you would like my assistance on a more regular basis. I could go over lessons with you and explain anything you don't understand, I could also help with your essays and other set work."

She hesitated before answering, "That would be wonderful, but I couldn't take up your time like that, and you have your own work."

"It won't be a problem; it would be a pleasure to help you."

A look of intense relief crossed her face, "Well, as long as it won't interrupt your own studies. It would be nice to have someone friendly explain it to me in a way I can understand." She nodded, making up her mind, "How about this free day? We could meet here again."

"That sounds prefect. I'll be looking forward to it."

Standing he forced himself to walk calmly away. Once he rounded the corner he let a mad grin escape him, though he still fought the urge to run round the library screaming and laughing at the top of his lungs. A large bubble of happiness seemed to have filled him up inside and there was no popping it. He was going to be helping a beautiful girl with her studies, and hopefully it would move on from there.

He was so absorbed in his happy thoughts that he didn't notice the person in front of him till it was too late.

"Watch where you're…." the person began, "Oh, it's you Lorlen," Akkarin straightened himself and then looked at Lorlen in an irritated manner. "Where did you go? I was walking round the library ranting to myself. It wasn't until a healer asked me who I was talking to that I realised that you weren't there. She nearly dragged me to the healer's quarters; do you have any idea how embarrassing that is? I was wondering why I was getting such strange looks," he stopped and narrowed his eyes at his friend. "It's not funny."

Lorlen tired to stop grinning, he really did, but it was if magic was preventing him from doing so.

Akkarin shook his head, "Come on, we still have an essay to write."

Lorlen felt his grin slip in his puzzlement, "What?"

"The assignment," Akkarin reminded, receiving only a blank look, "The chemistry one." When Lorlen continued to look at his friend as if he was speaking in tongues Akkarin tried again. "The one set by the monster, the reason we came to the library. The Library, the room you are currently in."

Suddenly it hit Lorlen, "Oh, that."

Akkarin looked at his friend in a worried manner, "Are you alright Lorlen? Did you hit your head, or are you just tired?"

Smiling Lorlen replied, "Not quite."

(&)

Lorlen walked down the stairs leading out of the university. All week he had been in an extremely good mood. His thoughts were always on Lenara which had resulted in some minor distractions in classes. As the week had gone by he had made a plan of what would happen tomorrow and how to develop a relationship between the two of them. He found himself more and more impatient and wished time would just speed up. Perhaps he would get an early night tonight, but then he probably wouldn't be able to sleep. Well, at least his thoughts would be pleasant.

"Lorlen!" His heart skipped a beat as recognised Lenara's voice. Forcing himself to look as cool and calm as Akkarin always did he turned and waited for her.

She caught up with him and gave a dazzling smile. Her face looked rather flushed. "Lorlen, I've been looking for you all morning."

She'd been looking for him. He wasn't sure if he should feel nervous or not. If she was looking for him today then it must mean she couldn't tell him tomorrow, she probably couldn't come. He mentally shook his head; he was overreacting. She probably just wanted to meet somewhere else, or she'd just forgotten the time…thinking about it, he wasn't sure himself what time they were supposed to meet. What if it was more though, what if wanted to spend some time together today? He couldn't resist standing a little taller. Yes, this must be a good sign.

"You have?" he asked causally.

"Yes, I'm afraid I have to cancel our meeting tomorrow."

Lorlen felt himself sink with disappointment, hoping it didn't show. "Oh," was all he managed to say. Then he scolded himself, something had probably come up, a family matter. "That's fine," he lied, "I hope nothing bad has happened." Through part of him was hoping that this was the case.

"Oh no," she exclaimed happily, and then looked at him uncertainly. "Don't you know why?"

Lorlen frowned, pushing away the nagging fear. She wouldn't be acting like this if the problem was with him. "No, why should I?"

A blissful smile covered her face and her expression became dreamy. When she spoke it was almost as if she had forgotten where she was, "Akkarin asked me to the races."

**TBC**


	6. Chapter 5b

**A/N: **Here comes part two of this little tale, and time for a little 'fun'.

**Part 5(b)**

Lorlen stormed through the gardens to where he knew Akkarin would be. Rounding a hedge he heard Akkarin's laugh clearly above the others. Looking round he spotted Akkarin with a foot propped up on a bench, around him stood a few of their friends. He was talking to couple of girls who sat on the bench. The girls seemed to drill in the reason for his search while Akkarin's laugh seemed to mock him. Gritting his teeth he marched over to Akkarin.

Akkarin looked up and, upon seeing his friend, gave him a beaming smile. "Ah, here comes Lorlen now," he then seemed to notice Lorlen's mood, "What has you in such a foul mood?"

Lorlen didn't slow down, not even when he drew back his arm, till he was standing in front of his 'friend'. He was still in the process of stopping when he swung his fist forward and it contented with Akkarin's face, in what he hoped was a very painful way. He was distantly aware of the shrieks and shouts of the novices surrounding them.

Akkarin looked up at him, his eyes wide in surprise. Touching the place the Lorlen had struck he shouted, "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Lorlen ignored the question. "You're a foul back-stabbing bastard!"

Akkarin's puzzled look was soon replaced with anger at the insult. Lorlen didn't care, he'd just had the girl he really liked stolen from him; by the person he trusted most. When Akkarin started to speak Lorlen decided that he didn't want to listen. He hit Akkarin again, but this time he felt something strike his own face as well. He tasted blood and felt it trickle down his chin. It didn't matter though. All that mattered was making Akkarin pay for what he had done.

Akkarin leapt forward and tackled his attacker to the ground. Kicking and punching each other they both tried to gain the upper hand. Lorlen's anger lent him strength, but Akkarin was the superior fighter. After a few well placed strikes he was sitting on top of his friend. Panting heavily he managed to breath out, "Lorlen, what's going on?"

Lying on the ground Lorlen became aware of the loud goading and cheers around them, telling him that they had attracted a large group of novices. He barely believed that Akkarin had actually asked him, 'what was going on'. He has stolen Lenara away from him and he was acting as if he didn't realise it. He had told Akkarin about her and he had gone behind his back and taken her away before he had had a proper chance with her. Now he dared act clueless. For the first time, Lorlen felt like he truly hated someone.

Reaching out, he grabbed a handful of Akkarin's hair and yanked it. Crying out Akkarin was forced to the ground. Lorlen quickly shifted the favour of the fight. He held Akkarin down by pressing him palm against his victim's face. Akkarin's eyes widened as Lorlen prepared to hit him, "You knew I liked her," Lorlen chocked out, "How could you?"

Suddenly Lorlen felt himself forced backwards, roughly off of Akkarin. He tired to leap forward again, but he felt magic preventing him from doing so. Breathing heavily, he watched as Akkarin quickly rose to his feet. The fact that Akkarin was free to move annoyed Lorlen, but he was pleased to see him sporting several injures, chief among them was a profusely bleeding nose.

Before Akkarin had a chance to move a voice rang across the garden. "Stay where you are."

Lorlen stop fighting the force and he felt it fade away as a red robed magician stepped between him and Akkarin. He hastily bowed, muttering 'Lord Balkan'. Lorlen became very conscious of the silence surrounding him. Balkan looked round at their audience. "The rest of you may leave, now."

As the crowd dispersed Lorlen noticed another magician approach them. His hit anger cooled to cold dread as he recognised the Guild's Administrator.

When the Administrator stopped he nodded to the warrior, "Thank you Lord Balkan, I will deal with these two now. You may leave."

After inclining his head, he left the scene, casting both novices a disapproving look. The administrator's eyes when hard and when he spoke his tone was sharp. "Now, what has happened that would excuse two sons of the houses acting like Bol-house thugs?"

Akkarin spoke up as he wiped his sleeve across his face, smearing blood across his face.  
"Ask him, he just attacked me!"

"And what did you do to warrant such an attack?"

"Nothing!" Akkarin cried, "I was just talking when he came up to me, called me a 'back-stabbing bastard'-"

He was interrupted by the older magician snapping, "Acting like a common thug does not warrant you to speak like one."

"But that's what he said. Then he just hit me. I was just talking to my friends. I didn't do anything."

The Higher magician turned to Lorlen. Unable to meet his gaze Lorlen looked away. "Is this true Lorlen?"

Lorlen considered denying it, but he knew it would be pointless, "Yes."

He knew the magician must be surprised, out of the two of them he must have expected Akkarin to start the fight. "Do you care to explain why."

Lorlen continued to look at the ground. It was humiliating enough to have Lenara stolen by the person he trusted most, but to have to explain it to the administrator was worse. He didn't want the whole Guild to know about it. Thinking back, though, he realised that hitting Akkarin hadn't been the best way to go about ensuring that.

"No," Lorlen replied sulkily.

"That wasn't a request," the reply snapped back.

Lorlen remained silent. He couldn't tell him; this was private, between him and Akkarin. He waited for someone to speak, even it was only him being shouted at, but no-one spoke. The uncomfortable silence dragged on and Lorlen felt more and more ill at ease. Eventually he heard a heavy sigh. Looking up he saw the Administrator shake his head. "Fine. Lorlen and Akkarin; you will both come to my office tomorrow, after your morning meal, to serve your punishment."

"What!?" Akkarin's outraged voice came, "I was the one who was attacked. Why am I being punished?"

"Fights are forbidden between novices. I doubt you were merely an innocent bystander. You must have done something for Lorlen to react in such a way. As neither of you see fit to tell me what this is, I am force to punish you both. Lorlen; you will return to your room immediately and you will not leave it until tomorrow morning. Akkarin; you will go to the healers and have your nose fixed. I am to hear of no more fight between novices. Have I made myself clear?" His voice rose at the last part. Not waiting for an answer he turned and left the novices alone.

Lorlen watched as Akkarin clenched his fists and glared at Lorlen, clearly resisting the urge to disobey a command from the second most powerful magician in the guild, no matter how suicidal it would be. Then he just shook his head in disgust and marched off towards the healer's quarters.

**TBC**


	7. Chapter 5c

Hey, long time since I updated, but I've been busy. I'm sorry if the writing in this is off, but I wrote a little bit here and a little there over such a long time, so things many not really fit together smoothly. Also when I came back to it, I was more used to writing essays then fanfiction, so it sometimes takes me a while to get back into the flow and swing of things. I just hope it isn't too bad.

**Novices 5(c)**

Lorlen resisted the urge to yawn. He and Akkarin had been separated for their punishment. He was stuck with the administrator while Akkarin worked with Lord Margen. He had no idea what Akkarin was being made o do, but he knew one thing for sure; it couldn't be this dull. The administrator had him doing the most tedious and repetitive tasks, the kind where, by five minutes, you would prefer to be repeatedly struck by stun strikes then to do this any longer. This was stupid . He should be tutoring Lenara, not sitting here, resisting the urge to will himself out of existence. This was all Akkarin's fault.

"Lorlen."

Lorlen jumped as the administrator called his name. "Yes administrator."

Without looking up, or ceasing his writing, the administrator continued, "I need some messages taken to the courier, in the servant's quarters. You will do that and then you will go round the classrooms, collect the empty inkwells, refill them in the storage room, and return them. Then you will return here." He stopped writing and fixed Lorlen with a stern gaze, "This is not an excuse for you to visit and talk to friends. You do the tasks and return." He looked back down at his work, silently dismissing Lorlen. Relieved to be finally doing something new, Lorlen leapt up and, hastily bowing, left the room.

It was a bright sunny day outside. He sighed, it was a shame to waste it indoors. If things had gone to plan he could have tutored_ her_ outside, perhaps by the spring. Well, that dream was out the window now, thanks to Akkarin.

"Lorlen!" His heart skipped as he recognised Lenara's voice. Maybe this wouldn't be such a bad day after all. Swallowing against the nervous lump in his throat, he stopped to let her catch up.

Any excitement that he felt at her appearance soon evaporated as she stood in front of him. She was clearly upset.

"Why did you do it Lorlen? Why did you hit Akkarin?"

Oh, so that's what she was upset about. Not feeling like discussing it he shrugged and started walking again. "It doesn't matter."

She trotted beside him. "Of course it matters. I was going to the races with Akkarin. Akkarin! Now, because you started a fight with him, I can't. Who knows if he'll ever ask me again." Lenara's voice, which had been growing more excited, became softer. She stepped in front of him, blocking his path. The next words came out more disappointed then angry. "You always seemed so nice. I don't understand why you'd do something like this."

Lorlen clenched his jaw remaining silent. Wonderful, not only had Akkarin stolen Lenara from him, but he'd also turned her against him. Avoiding Lenara, he looked down at the letters. All she was interested in was Akkarin. She didn't really care about why he had started the fight, just that he had ruined her chance at being Akkarin's little puppy for a week. "I'm not allowed to speak to anyone."

Lorlen tried to side-step her, but she merely moved back into his path. "You're avoiding my question."

Wasn't it obvious that he wanted to be left alone? "Just leave me alone."

"Not until you've answered my question." She crossed her arms over her just, and for a moment he felt a little thrill of admiration for her persistence, which was soon replaced with one of irritation. Couldn't she take a hint? "He doesn't care about you." He said suddenly.

She looked taken aback, "What?"

"He doesn't care about you," he repeated. "You're just a pretty face that he'll humour till he gets bored, or finds something else to entertain him."

Her arms dropped to her side, and her eyes watered. "Why…?"

"I just thought you might like to know."

She looked very upset and Lorlen started to regret his words. Suddenly she burst out, "I never knew you were such a jerk!" and she spun around and fled.

It wasn't the worst insult he had had, not by far, but her words cut more deeply then any other insult he'd had. Rousing himself, he managed to drag his feet into motion to continue his way to his to the servant quarters.

(&)

Lorlen shifted the large box in his arms. It was about half full with all the empty ink wells he had so far collected. It wasn't heavy, but the awkward shape and size of the box caused his arms to ache. An hour ago he would have been thrilled at the idea of walking around, rather then being stuck in the Administrators office, but now he yearned to return to return to his previous task. The unwelcome change was that now his mind was free to wonder, and wonder it did; to Lenara.

How should have know that she was just interested in Akkarin, especially after she referred to him as 'Akkarin friend', when they first meet. That seemed to be the only reason she knew he existed. Never the less, he was sure that he could have changed that if Akkarin hadn't asked her before he had even had a chance to. It wasn't fair, and now he had just ruined any chance with her. His stomach tightened as he remembered his last words to her. He regretted them now, wishing that he hadn't hurt her, but he had been so irritated, and hurt by her reaction and single mindedness to Akkarin.

Lorlen felt another stab of hurt; of all the novices, why did it have to Akkarin, why did his closest friend have to ask her. Three years of solid friendship and now this.

Still caught up in his misery, he walked into the next classroom.

"Oh, it's you."

Lorlen jerked himself to the present at the voice. He was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he hadn't noticed that he had just walked into Lord Margen's classroom, the room where Akkarin was serving his punishment. Akkarin was looking at him darkly and Lorlen returned his glare. Looking at Akkarin he saw that he was standing at a desk, with his sleeves rolled up and his hand in a large tub of soapy water. At first Lorlen wondered what kind of punishment Akkarin was supposed to be doing, then he noticed the various chemistry equipment around his 'friend'. So Lord Margen had Akkarin cleaning all the chemistry instruments, he knew Akkarin's punishment wouldn't be as dull as his.

Looking round the room he realised that Lord Margen had stepped out of the room, leaving an empty ink well on his desk and Akkarin alone. He decided to ignore the room's other occupant and made his way to the desk. Akkarin however had his own ideas.

"I hope your happy," his voice held the undertone of resentment with just pinch of annoyance, "You've ruined my day."

Indignation stirred in Lorlen. He had ruined Akkarin's day? Placing the box on the teacher's desk, he replied in a mocking voice. "What a tragedy! Akkarin has to spend the day washing up. I now see how your day is FAR worse then mine. How foolish of me to think that you had ruined MY day!"

Akkarin gave a bark of humourless laugh. "Me? How have I ruined your day. What did you have planned that was so special? I was going to the races."

Lorlen spun around and glared. "Of course, because asking Lenara to the races has no effect on me at all."

Akkarin frowned, "How…."Akkarin trailed off as he started piecing everything together. It didn't take long for a look of shocked surprise to cross his face. Groaning Akkarin ran a hand over his face and through his hair. As he watched Akkarin's reaction Lorlen felt a pang of uncertainty. _Maybe_ his friend hadn't realised. _Maybe_ he hadn't seen Lorlen watching Lenara and then gone behind his back to ask her first, he'd completely forgotten that this was the girl Lorlen had been watching in the library. He wasn't sure which one made him more angry.

Akkarin spoke again, but it was far from the heartfelt apology that Lorlen had expected. "You're joking, this is a bad joke." Akkarin looked up at his friend, "This is about a girl? All this? You're going to throw away our friendship just because of some silly girl!?"

Lorlen nearly gaped at his best friend in disbelief, momentarily forgetting his anger. Hoe could his friend, one of the most intelligent novices in the year, so completely miss the point of so many levels.

"No, this isn't _just_ about some _silly_ girl. This is about the friend I trust the most going behind my back and asking the girl I like to the races."

Akkarin's face fell. "Lorlen, I swear, I had no idea. I completely for-"

Lorlen interrupted, snapping angrily. "So that makes it all better? I'm your best friend and you don't even bother to remember who the girl is. Did you even remember that I was watching her, that I liked her?" Lorlen didn't pause for an answer, continuing with his rant. "It's not even as if you actually like her, not like I do. You just see a pretty face, someone to show off. You'll drop her as soon as you get bored or finding something better."

There was silence, as Lorlen collected himself. After a few moments Akkarin spoke softly. "You really liked her, didn't you?"

Lorlen was about to make a noise of utter frustration and demand to know if Akkarin had listen to what he had just said when Lord Margen appeared in the doorway.

"Lorlen! What are you doing here?"

Lorlen bowed deeply to the Lord, hoping that the alchemist hadn't hard the argument, "The administrator asked me to collect the empty ink wells to refill."

"Then collect it and be on your way."

Nodding Lorlen hastily grabbed the ink well and placed it in the box. Then picking up the box he hurried put of the room, avoiding eye contact with Akkarin.

**TBC**

So what will happen next. Hold on for the final section of part 5, coming to a computer screen near you soon…ish…hopefully. Thank you Zurina for beta reading.


	8. Chapter 5d

Novices 5(e)

**A/N: ****I know it's been a long while, and I could give you excuses, but I somehow doubt that you'd be very interested in my dull but busy life for the last 7 months. I hope some people are still reading this, but here's the final chapter. ENJOY!**

**No****vices 5(e)**

Lorlen sighed; he was bored. He was sitting by the spring, staring blankly into the distance. A week had passed since he had last talked to Akkarin, in Lord Margen's classroom, and since he had made a point of avoiding Akkarin over the last few days. He had moved across the classroom, away from Akkarin, and left before Akkarin even got a chance to pack his books away. After Akkarin had tried to talk to him at dinner, he had then started eating at stranger times, preferring to avoid his ex-friend. Though Akkarin now rarely tried to talk to him, now he seemed to prefer just watching Lorlen, a slight frown marring his features. It was starting to get uncomfortable.

Lorlen shifted his position. Despite all pretences, he couldn't deny to himself that he missed Akkarin. A large part of him just wanted to forget everything and simply go back to being best friends. However, whenever he was tempted to do this the smaller, and unfortunately louder, part of his divided thoughts would jump in and stop him. He wouldn't he couldn't, wouldn't, just let Akkarin get away with this simply with a week of the cold shoulder, he had to know that he had crossed a forbidden line.

However after a week of cooling down this little voice was getting quieter and quieter, and his loneliness had made him realise just what he would lose if he never made amends with Akkarin. He was now ready to accept an apology from Akkarin; he just refused to be the one to give it.

Suddenly a red object appeared under his nose. He stared at it blankly. Recognising the object as a book, he went about trying to work out where it had come from and why it looked strangely familiar...

He jerked his head up. Beside him, holding the book stood Akkarin, with the strangest expression on his face.

"What's this?" Lorlen said before he realised it.

"My Diary," said Akkarin, looking as if swallowed a cup of Raka in one mouthful.

"I see. Why?"

Akkarin took a deep breath and spoke, sounding as if he'd rehearsed this many times before. "I was wrong. I was a poor excuse for a best friend. I betrayed your trust and I was self-centred. I really am sorry. If I had known, if I had bothered to remember," he corrected himself, "that you liked Lenora, but this," he waved the book so it caught Lorlen's attention again, "is the only way I can think of to make it up to you. This is the only thing that comes close to showing you how sorry I am, and making it up to you."

Lorlen looked back at the diary and Akkarin's hand tightened on it. Suddenly he understood, or thought he did, but that would be impossible. He considered making Akkarin say it, but looking at the expression on his face, Lorlen doubted the novice would actually be able to say it.

"You want me to read your diary?" Lorlen knew it was a stupid question; he must have misunderstood Akkarin's intention.

Akkarin struggled with himself for a minute before slowly nodding, not trusting himself to speak. Lorlen just stared at him, wondering if his friend had gone insane. Maybe Akkarin had misunderstood him, yes, that was it.

"You want me to read your diary?"

Akkarin nodded, quicker this time. Lorlen's brain seemed unable to digest this information, or was simply enjoying this too much.

"I'm sorry, but you want me to-"

"Just take it," Akkarin snapped, shoving his diary into Lorlen's hands.

Lorlen could only stare at the object in his hands, not really sure what to do with it. This was no small gesture for Akkarin to actually hand his journal to him, let alone tell him to read it. Lorlen quickly flipped though the pages, not taking in the words. It was strange to have this object in his hands, after so many attempts to steal it. After all that effort he expended on trying to steal it, he now hesitated to read it. Lorlen barely noted that Akkarin had sat down nearby, his gaze locked on Lorlen. A week ago just looking at Akkarin had made him angry, he would have taken the diary without even thinking of forgiving the other novice. Now, however, he was just tired, he was truly sick of all of this. He had begun to realise how much more he valued his friend then some girl.

He tossed the book back over to Akkarin, who looked surprised.

"It takes the fun away if you give it to me," he simply stated, pushing himself to his feet. Akkarin followed suit, watching his friend uncertainly. A rare sight indeed.

"So... does that mean we're friends again?"

Lorlen remained silent for a moment, realising that it came down to one simple thing: was some girl, even if that girl was Lenora, worth losing Akkarin, a friend who had stayed by his side since they first meet.

Lorlen smiled to himself, well when it was put like that there was only one answer. Lorlen pushed Akakrin so that he fell backwards into the small stream. Dripping wet, Akkarin glared up at his still grinning friend. Lorlen reached down, offering his hand, "We are now."

**End of novices**

**There you go. My enternal thanks goes out to Zurina who, as usual, beta read this chapter.**

**P.S, for those of you looking angrily at 'Ghost of the Past', well, I had more then a slight writers block with that, but it is on it's way.**


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